Albuquerque, New Mexico

This was the first cloudy, cold, windy day we have had on this trip. After a short walk around the plaza of Old Town, we were convinced that both Albuquerque and Santa Fe plazas were similar in style. The cold, dank weather kept street merchants and performers at bay. We took the opportunity to investigate further the Pueblo culture by visiting the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. It was fascinating to watch an Acoma Native American make arrowheads. The first words from the mouths of these Native Americans were to identify which clan they belonged within the Acoma Pueblo; this identity must have been very important to them.

By the afternoon the winds had settled down, and we discovered that the Sandia Valley Aerial Tramway was running. At its entrance a big sign greeted us saying, “Visibility at top: zero”. However, we decided that the 15 minute ride up 4,000 ft. was worth it. When we arrived at the summit of 10,378 ft., the scene was what Boston might look like this winter. The winds and blowing snow iced the trees making the summit look like Santa's North Pole. Let's give a bit of history here. During the construction of the tramway in the mid sixties at a cost of $2 million, Bell Engineering of Lucerne, Switzerland was posed with many challenges; just stringing the cables for the gondolas took 5 months, and the over-all construction spanned 24 months. Today, though, skiers and sight-seers enjoy year-round recreation and entertainment.